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Motive Partners Appoints Tim Karpoff as Industry Partner

Published on 
July 14, 2026
Former Citigroup Global Head of Strategy brings deep strategic, regulatory, and corporate development expertise to Motive's global platform.

New York, July 14, 2026 – Motive Partners, a private investment firm specializing in financial technology and technology-enabled business services, today announced that Tim Karpoff will join the firm as an Industry Partner, effective September 1.

Karpoff joins Motive following an extensive career helping shape enterprise strategy, corporate development, and transformational transactions at the highest levels of global financial services. Across senior leadership positions in banking, government, and legal advisory, he has advised executive leadership teams, boards, regulators, and policymakers on many of the industry's significant strategic decisions, bringing a combination of strategic, operational, and regulatory perspectives.

At Motive, Karpoff will partner closely with the firm's investment professionals throughout the investment lifecycle, helping evaluate investment opportunities, providing strategic perspective on investment evaluation and due diligence, assessing transformational corporate development and M&A opportunities, and working alongside portfolio company leadership teams to support long-term value creation across the firm's portfolio.

Most recently, Karpoff served as Global Head of Strategy at Citigroup, where he led the firm's enterprise-wide strategic planning and oversaw corporate mergers & acquisitions. Working alongside Citi's executive leadership, he helped shape long-term strategic priorities, evaluate growth opportunities, and guide the firm's strategic decision-making across one of the world's largest financial institutions.

Prior to Citigroup, Karpoff held several senior leadership positions at Barclays, including Group Head of Strategy & Corporate Development and Group Chief of Staff & Head of Corporate Relations. Earlier in his career, he served as Director of the Office of Financial Institutions Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and as Counsel to Chairman Gary Gensler at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before becoming a partner at Jenner & Block.

"Exceptional investing requires more than financial expertise – it requires the judgment of leaders who have made strategic decisions at the highest levels of the industry," said Rob Heyvaert, Founder and Managing Partner of Motive Partners. "Tim has spent his career helping executive leadership teams navigate transformational opportunities across global financial services. His experience evaluating strategic opportunities, corporate development initiatives, and complex business challenges will strengthen how we invest and how we help our portfolio companies create lasting enterprise value."
"Financial services is being fundamentally reshaped by technology, regulation, and evolving customer expectations,” added Karpoff. “What distinguishes Motive is its ability to combine deep investment expertise with experienced operators and industry leaders who have helped shape the industry's evolution from multiple perspectives. I'm excited to work alongside the investment team and portfolio company leadership to evaluate opportunities, navigate complex strategic decisions, and help build category-leading businesses that create lasting value."

Karpoff's appointment supports Motive's differentiated investor-operator-innovator (IOI) model by embedding experienced industry leaders alongside the firm's investment professionals to enhance investment judgment, strategic decision-making, and long-term value creation across its portfolio.

About Motive Partners

Motive Partners is a private investment firm exclusively focused on financial technology and technology-enabled business services companies, investing from early-stage ventures to growth equity and buyout in North America and Europe. The firm invests across five subsectors: banking & payments, capital markets, data & analytics, insurance, and wealth and asset management. Motive Partners applies its proven investor, operator, innovator (IOI) model across its portfolio, combining deep financial technology expertise and proven operational rigor to accelerate growth and value creation. With offices in New York, London, and Berlin, the firm provides differentiated insight, connectivity, and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com.

Motive Capital Management LLC is a registered investment adviser with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It is not authorized or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy interests in any Motive managed investment vehicle. Directed at professional investors only where applicable under UK rules.

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